Tuesday 23^rd April 2019

St. George’s Day and Shakespeare Day when Stratford celebrates his death and, supposedly, the date of his birth.

We had a slow start to our day to time our arrival at Bidford-on-Avon when the moorings were, hopefully, empty. We hung washing out, Brenda did admin and I pottered about on the boat, something that’s not been done for a while. While we were having our breakfast we were treated to a mother Mallard walking alongside the windows with the towpath being on the same level, followed closely by a tight line in convoy of nine new born ducklings. It looked so funny and a delight to witness so close.

We were just having a cuppa when Eugene and Carol, aka Gary and Arabella, on the cruiser from yesterday turned up. They were also going to Bidford for the day, so we cruised together and shared the locks. The speed was much faster than we prefer to go as we are never in a rush and like to enjoy the scenery, however, I felt as though we couldn’t hold them up. The weir at Welford was huge with a great flow of water over it and in the channel below.

Weir at Welford-on-Avon

On the stretch from Welford to the first lock, Eugene reckoned we were moving at 4.1mph according to his all singing, all dancing sat nav. He usually travels at 6mph.

This section of river, like all of the Avon so far, is stunningly beautiful. Passed the boatyard at Barton and we came to the Elsie and Hiram Billington Lock in a lovely location. Just before the lock Eugene passed us and, when he was almost alongside, he opened up his throttle. The wash he created burst right over our bow and set the boat rocking and pitching quite violently.

At the lock, we met with a couple of Avon Navigation employees who were well happy in their work. They told us that CRT have emptied the damaged lock at Gloucester again but, threatened with redundancy, their engineers will not sign off on the job and so, with the lock having been dry for over three weeks, nobody has yet set foot in it. Apparently it could be into August or September before it reopens, or even into next year. So our plan of Gloucester, the Severn crossing and the Kennet and Avon and Oxford Canals are thwarted.

Bidford-on-Avon Bridge, built in 1482

½ mile beyond the lock we came to the village of Bidford, looking lovely from the river. The bridge here was deceiving and, without the arrows on the bridge arches, or the guides, a boat would naturally head for the tall, central arch, whereas the navigable arch is the southern-most one, is well away from the main channel and has a tight angle of approach. This bridge was built in 1482 by Monks from nearby Alcester, close to the site of a Roman ford on Ryknild Street which was only removed in 1970. The bridge still carries traffic today so stands as a testament to its construction. Bridges across the river are very few.

We moored just beyond the bridge on the Frog Inn’s moorings. A delightful spot. We sat in the pub gardens with Eugene and Carol but found we had missed the lunch servings so moved onto benches beside the boat and had our own lunch looking out over the river.

Gary and Carol left us at 5:30 for their run home.

Mooring at Bidford-on-Avon beside Frog Inn

Weather: a lovely hot, sunny day.

Day Total: 3 locks; 3 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; engine running hours 2.1

Overall Total: 463 locks; 833 miles; 42 tunnels; 11 Swing Bridges; 3 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; engine running hours 552.1